Voicemail
by writerfangirl
Summary: Sometimes life is just really cruel. You can never know what will happen, and when. Wally listens to Dick's voicemail, and he realizes, he shouldn't have wasted time.


**A/N: Okay, so a lot of you have been asking me to continue He's Okay Right?, sadly I can't. Now, before you get mad at me I have two valid reasons. 1. I honestly can't think of another chapter for this. 2. I only wrote that to express what I think happened in the story Letters Like A Life by Seph's Madisen Moss. I think that if you read that story, you'll be far more satisfied. This is just a little one shot I've come up with, I've been on a Dick and Wally friendship angst kick. So, anyway, I don't own anything.**

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The day it happened, things were fairly normal for Wally. He just recovered from the whole Arctic Disaster, and was just lounging around on his couch. He and Artemis were officially back in the hero business. He hated to admit it, but he really missed being Kid Flash.

Artemis was at the cave and gave Wally strict orders, not to move around too much. He really hated when he was injured enough for him to be required not to move. He got up to go get some more popcorn and waited by the microwave. Once he got his snack, he got his phone from the table in front of him, and checked for messages.

Surprisingly, he actually had a voicemail. It was from Nightwing. Nightwing, since when did he start referring to him as 'Nightwing' in his thoughts? Usually, it was always "Dick" when he was alone. Wally gave a sigh; their friendship –if you can still call it that– was strained at best.

It really bugged Wally that he and his best friend were acting like this. Sure, the undercover op was stressing, but what about the time after. He and Dick had been avoiding each other. There wasn't really any anger per se, more of tension. He had been wondering why he couldn't just walk up to him, and just fool around like the old days.

When he finally exited his thoughts, he played the voicemail. He heard a beep, and the message started playing. "Hey Wally," it started. "Uh… I know that we haven't exactly been on the best terms, and I also know that it's my fault we're this way." It said.

Wally's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. _His _fault? Is he serious? Okay, maybe he caused some problems, but it wasn't _just_ Dick's fault, it was his too. He wasn't exactly being cooperative. He shook his head, how could he forget how Dick always pinned the blame on himself.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I dragged you back into this, when you were retired. I'm sorry that I made you worry about Artemis. I'm also sorry about the cave. I mean; I know you said you weren't upset about it but I know how much it meant to you. I really hope you can forgive me. Maybe…. maybe when I get back from my mission, we can hang out like we used to…" With that the message ended.

Now Wally felt like a jerk. He remembered his 'conversation' with Dick at the hall. His emotions were on overdrive; he didn't mean the things he said. He felt a surge of joy flow through him. Dick wanted them to hang out again, it felt like a lifetime since the last time he just had fun.

He perked up, when Dick gets back from his mission, it'll be his turn to apologize, and then they can go back to being best friends. He knew for a fact that Artemis and Zatanna were with him on the mission, and Arty said she'd be back on base by 10. He would be at the cave by 10:15; he wanted Dick to treat whatever injuries he had first.

10:15 came sooner rather than later. He zeta'd to the Watchtower, and headed for the common room. The sight he was met with was a shocking one. The whole team was present, and the mood of the room was dreadfully somber. Something akin to fear started forming in his stomach.

"Hey guys!" he greeted trying to lighten the mood, even by a little bit. "Have you seen Nightwing? I wanted to talk to him." He said.

If possible the room became even more depressing. 'What the hell is going on?' he thought.

Bart stood up. From what he noticed, Bart looked…confused, and distraught. "Didn't Artemis tell you?" he asked cautiously. Bart was still trying to figure out this whole mess. This wasn't suppose to happen, not now, and certainly not like this.

The smile on Wally's face dropped almost instantly. "Tell me what?" he asked.

Bart looked away; he didn't want to be the one to tell his cousin what happened. He looked to the others for support. Only the newer members of the team were here. All the seniors/originals were in the medbay.

Mal, seeing Bart's distress, decided to drop the bombshell. "Wally, the mission…. it went… _wrong." _He said, as if he himself was still trying to accept it. In all fairness, that wasn't far from the truth.

The fear that Wally was feeling, it just increased ten-fold. He tried to calm himself down, who knows; maybe they just got a bigger butt kicking than they originally planned? Right? Right. Then why doesn't it feel like it?

"So, they got bigger scrapes and bruises.." he tried to reinforce his positive outlook. "No biggie, it happens from time to time." He waved off, with a forced smile.

Mal wanted to hug the man in front of him. He has a strong feeling that Wally knows what they're implying, but like them, couldn't really accept it.

"Wally…" he said. He'd have to outright say it. At the corner of his eye, he could see Robin and Batgirl trembling with unreleased sobs. "He's dead. Nightwing's dead." He finished quietly.

As Mal finished, he heard a sob from Cassie. Everyone was attached to their leader, the plan he made during the invasion was forgiven, the fact that he's gone, it _hurts. _

Wally was shaking his head. His brain couldn't comprehend it. Dick can't be dead, he's Dick; he doesn't just die.

"Mal." He said firmly. "It's not funny. Those kinds of jokes are never funny." He said seriously, eyes flashing with emotion.

Each team member felt sorry for Wally, it wasn't a secret that Nightwing was his best friend. That kind of friendship; it's one of the most valuable things in life. Karen decided to help her boyfriend.

"Wally I'm sorry." She said, voice shaking slightly. "It's true. He really _is_…gone"

The denial just buried itself deep inside Wally. "No! That's not true! My best friend is _not dead!"_ He screamed.

Tim couldn't hold it anymore; he started sobbing on Barbara's shoulder. Just to sweeten the deal, Roy came in.

The redhead looked like he'd been through hell and back. His eyes were red rimmed, his hair was tousled, his clothes were crumpled, and his voice was hoarse –as if he'd been screaming a lot.

"Guys," he called to them, hands still rubbing his eyes. "Do you want to see-" he stopped short when he saw Wally.

Wally looked straight at him, eyes boring into his soul. Roy wanted to cry even more now. After what happened, they didn't need this.

Wally sped over to Roy, and started shaking his shoulders gently. "Roy, tell them to stop fooling around. Tell them Nightwing's not dead." He pleaded.

Roy closed his eyes and looked away. There was raw pain in his eyes, and Roy couldn't look at it for long. He did, however, look at it long enough to tell Wally.

"I'm sorry…but he is. Dick is dead." He finished with a shaky whisper. He hates that sentence. Utterly _hates _it.

Wally's face went from pleading to crushed in a matter of seconds. He sank down on his knees, staring into nothing. The team left to give the two red heads some privacy.

Roy released a few tears, and slowly went down to Wally's level. He looked at his brother for a good amount of time. He can see himself, he can see what his eyes looked like when he realized…

"No, no, no." Wally whispered brokenly. Wally looked at Roy, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "Roy, that's not true. He can't be dead, he can't be, he just _can't._" he finished with a whisper.

"Wally," he started softly. "It's going to be okay. I promise, everything will be okay." He said while hugging him.

Wally shook his head, tears finally coming out. "No, it won't." he whispered. "It will _never_ be okay. Not without Dick. Not without our little brother." He said, his voice cracking. Roy only hugged the younger ginger tighter.

"Do-do you want to see him?" he asked almost shyly. This was a sign of grief when it came to Roy. You know he's grieving when he does a 360-personality change.

Wally nodded. "Y-yeah." He said, somewhat composing himself. So they went, they went to the medbay. They went there and saw M'gann sitting in a chair, sobbing, while Conner comforted her, with tears streaming down his own face. Artemis was on her knees, head bowed down crying silently. Zatanna was hugging…the body. She was sobbing harder than anyone, and Wally remembered that she and Nightwing had been in love.

Roy cleared his throat. "Guys." He called out his voice wavering. They all looked up slowly and their eyes widened. Artemis immediately stood up and hugged Wally, which he returned gratefully.

"I'm _so_ sorry." She whispered to him. He could take a guess on why she was apologizing.

Zatanna detached herself from her dead love, and cried into her hands silently. Wally finally got a good look at his friend. Wally barely recognized him. Why? Why did he have to die? Why like this?

He went over to Dick slowly, and went back into denial. "Dick, wake up." He commanded softly. "Dick, _wake up."_ He tried one last time. The realization kicked in again, and it came with a vengeance. Then, he also realized he never got to apologize. He never got to say that he forgave him. He hugged the body, and started sobbing.

Artemis approached him slowly, and pulled him off the body. She hugged his head, and she heard him mutter. "I never got to tell him." He said brokenly, and Artemis was confused.

"Tell him what?" she asked softly.

"That I forgave him. That I'm sorry." He explained, and looked into Artemis' eyes. "I never got to apologize to him, and my baby brother died thinking I hated him." He finally let out. Artemis hugged him for dear life. He needed it and he knew it. Dear god it _hurt._

"Do you know how much it hurts?" he asked to no one in particular. "I wasted three years. _Three years_. Because of my stupid pride, I didn't get to spend time with Dick. I-if I knew that our time together would be so short…" he trailed off. He started sobbing in Artemis' arms, and everyone was reminded of the time they wasted.

Wally separated himself from Artemis, and stood tall. He knew that he would be better off not knowing, but he had to know. "How-how did he…die?" he said the last word like it was poison, and in a way, it was.

Each of them looked at each other sorrowfully. Conner decided that he should tell Wally. "He-he fell." He said hollowly. Wally looked at him like he was the most evil person in the world. Conner ignored the look and explained. "We were in a battle, one of the guards pushed him off the rooftop. It was a 50-story building. He shot out his grappling hook, but one of the bullets ricocheted, and cut his wire. The guards kept on coming and we couldn't reach him." He finally finished.

Wally then noticed that they were all filthy. They all went on the mission with him. Wally wanted to yell at the world. Dick didn't deserve to die like that, like…his parents.

Wally fell to his knees and Roy caught him just in time. The speedster was sobbing, and the archer was struggling not to follow his example. It's just really hard to accept the fact that Dick was gone. He seemed so invincible, like dying wasn't in his vocabulary. He was so young dammit! And to have him die in the same tragic way his parents died, that was just fate screwing with them.

Roy was murmuring reassurances to Wally once again, they were empty promises in his opinion. Today, the world has suffered one of it's greatest losses, today Bruce lost a son, today Zatanna lost a lover, today the team lost it's leader, and today they all lost a brother.

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**I know I know it's terrible. **


End file.
